Barrel lifter



Jan. 3, 1967 s. TRWBLE 3,295,831

BARREL L IFTER Filed Oct. 14, 1965 L F766 25 F/a.6 276.6

ll 9;2' l7 I4 26 27 Z l2 INVENTOR ,7

Ear Tie/M515 ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent Ofiice 3,295,831 BARREL LIFTER Roy S. Trimble, 1021Capitol, Beacon Hill Station,

. San Antonio, Tex. 78201 Filed Oct. 14, 1965, Ser. No. 495,916 8Claims. (Cl. 254--131) threaded plugs which comprise a component of suchbarrels or drums.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a device of thisnature which will facilitate the general handling, opening and reclosingor venting of such drums.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a tool of thisnature which is sturdy and durable in construction, reliable andefficient in operation, and simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Still other objects reside in the combinations of elements, arrangementsof parts, and features of construction, all as will be more fullydescribed hereinafter and disclosed in the accompanying drawing whereinthere is shown a preferred embodiment of this inventive concept.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of one form of device embodying the instantinventive concept;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom plan view of the device;

FIGURE 4 is an end elevational view of the device as viewed from theleft in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view showing the device in position tolift a barrel from a horizontal position to a vertical position, aperiod of adjustment during the lifting operation being indicated indotted lines;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing a portion of thetool employed in the removal of a small threaded plug from the top drumor barrel;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary view on a reduced scale showing the deviceemployed can manipulate the large plug in the side of a drum or thelike; and

FIGURE 8 is a view similar to FIGURE 7 showing the employment of thedevice for removing the large plug in the top of the drum.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views of the drawing.

Having reference now to the drawings in detail, the barrel lifter of theinstant invention is generally indicated at 10, and comprises agenerally U-shaped member which may be formed of a suitable metal, suchas steel, and which may be of tubular construction, if desired for thepurpose of lightness, which includes a pair of aligned legs 11 connectedby a bight 12. As best shown in FIGURE 2 at an intermediate point thelegs are bent at an angle of approximately 15 as indicated at 13. Attheir outer ends the legs 11 are connected by a transverse tubular piece14 of arcuate configuration, conforming an arc generally to the radiusof curvature of a conventional 55 gallon steel drum. The ends of thelegs 11 are flattened as at 15, and secured in any desired manner as byspot welding 16 to arcuate member 14. A rectangular protrusion 17, thepurpose of which will be more fully described hereinafter, extendsoutwardly from the approximate center of arcuate member 14.

Extending from a point on the inner side of the angularly inclinedportion of each leg 11 is a rectangular bar 18,

3,295,831 Patented Jan. 3, 1967 which extends past the angle 13, inrelative parallelism to the portion of the bar on the opposite side ofthe angle. Each member 18 is suitably spot welded as at 19 or otherwiseconnected to the underside of each leg 11, and at a point adjacent itsouter extremity is connected to a support 20, as by spot welding 21, thesupport 20 in turn being connected to the adjacent leg 11 by spotwelding or the like as indicated at 21. As a result a protuberance orprojection 22 extends beyond each support in substantial parallelism tothe adjacent portion of the angled leg 11.

A generally U-shaped member 25, including a pair of upstanding lugs 26and the bight 27 is secured as by spot welding 28 to the side of one oflegs 11 opposite the obtuse angle 13, or on the side opposite the bar18, and serves as a lug wrench, in a manner to be more fully describedhereinafter.

While the device may be employed as a lifter :for many types andvarieties of drums, it is particularly applicable to a conventional 55gallon oil of metal construction, such drurn being generally indicatedat 30* and partially broken away as indicated. The drum 30 is provide-dat each end with an annular flange 31, about its head 32, the head 32being provided normally with a relatively small screw-threaded plug 33and a relatively large threaded plug 34. A similar plug 35 is providedusually in the side of the barrel, to facilitate filling or removal ofthe contents.

In the use and operation of the device, particularly when it is desiredto lift a barrel from -a horizontal to a vertical position as shown inFIGURE 5, the member .10 is positioned as shown, with one portion of theangled legs 11 extending along the arcutae side of the barrel and themember 14 seating firmly against the side Wall thereof, and beingpointed out that the radius of curvature of arcua-te member 14 is suchas to conform smoothly and evenly to the side of the barrel, preferablyimmediately adjacent one of the ribs or corrugations 36 which form,conventionally, a portion of such drums. The protruding ends 22 of bars18 then engage beneath flange 31, with the supports 20 serving as limitstops, and iurthe-r to prevent slippage of the device, and the liftingforce is exerted on the bight 12, in the direction indicated by thearrow in FIGURE 5. The leverage thus afforded permit s the barrel to beraised to an upright position with a minimum of effort and difiiculty.

The protruding lug or protuberance 17 is dimensioned to serve as a capWrench for the small plug 33, and when it is desired to remove orreplace such plug, the protuberance or lu-g 17 is simply inserted in theend of the small plug, as shown in FIGURE '6, and the plug rotated untilremoved or tightened as desired.

FIGURE 7 shows the device employed as a cap wrench for removing the sideplug 35 from the barrel. In this case, the cap wrench 25 is positionedso as to engage the sides of the large threaded plug 35, then the devicerotated until the plug is removed or tightened; A similar usage is shownin FIGURE 8 wherein the large cap wrench 25 is applied to the large plug34 in the top of the drum.

Obviously, the device may be made with any suitable material ofsufficient strength, and equally obviously of any desired size for thepurpose intended, although an overall length of approximately three feethas been found desirable for use with the particular drum specified.

From the foregoing it will now be seen that there is herein provided adevice which accomplishes all of the objects of this invention, andothers, including many advantages of great practical utility andcommercial importance.

As many embodiments may be made of this inventive 3 concept,- and asmany modifications may be made of the embodiment hereinbefore shown anddescribed, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to beinterpreted merely as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In a barrel lifter, a body portion comprising a pair of aligned legsand a bight connecting said legs at one end, said legs being obtuselyangled at an intermediate point in a direction transverse to theextension of said bight, a bar secured to each leg on one side of theangle therein and extending across said angle in substantiallyparallelism to the portion of the leg on the other side of the angle, asupport extending from each leg on said other side of the angle rigidlyconnected to the adjacent .bar, a portion of each bar extending beyondits support and adapted to engage beneath the flange of flanged barrelto be lifted, and an arcuate end member secured across the ends of saidlegs opposite said bight adapted to bear against the arcuate side of thebarrel to be lifted, whereby lifting pressure exerted on said big'ht isadapted to raise the barrel from a horizontal position to a verticalposition.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said barrel lifter is provided witha small cap wrench adapted to engage a conventional small plug of asteel drum for removal and replacement.

3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said small cap wrench comprises anelongated generally rectangular lug extending outwardly relative to saidlegs from the approximate center of said end member and adapted toengage in the recess conventionally provided in the small threaded plug.

p 4. The structure of claim 1 wherein said barrel lifter 4 is providedwith a large cap wrench adaptedto engage a conventional large plug of asteel drum for removal and replacement.

5. The structure of. claim 4 wherein siad large cap wrench comprises agenerally U-shaped member adapted to engage the opposite exterior sidesof the conventional large plug positioned on one of said legs at anintermediate point on the side opposite from its associated bar.

6. The structure of claim 2 wherein said barrel lifter is also providedwith a large cap wrench adapted to engage a conventional large plug of asteel drum for removal and replacement.

7. The structure of claim 6 wherein said small cap wrench comprises anelongated generally rectangular lug extending outwardly relative to saidlegs from the approximate center of ,said end member and adapted toengage in the recess conventionally provided in the small threaded plug.I

8. The structure of claim 7 wherein said large cap wrench comprises agenerally U-shaped member adapted to engage the opposite exterior sidesof the conventional large plug positioned on one of said legs at :anintermediate point on the side opposite from its associated bar.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,695,1091'1/1954 Pringle a 214383 FOREIGN PATENTS 22,18 0 10/ 1959 Australia.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner. O. SIMPSON, Examiner.

1. IN A BARREL LIFTER, A BODY PORTION COMPRISING A PAIR OF ALIGNED LEGSAND A BIGHT CONNECTING SAID LEGS AT ONE END, SAID LEGS BEING OBTUSELYANGLED AT AN INTERMEDIATE POINT IN A DIRECTION TRANSVERSE TO THEEXTENSION OF SAID BIGHT, A BAR SECURED TO EACH LEG ON ONE SIDE OF THEANGLE THEREIN AND EXTENDING ACROSS SAID ANGLE IN SUBSTANTIALLYPARALLELISM TO THE PORTION OF THE LEG ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ANGLE, ASUPPORT EXTENDING FROM EACH LEG ON SAID OTHER SIDE OF THE ANGLE RIGIDLYCONNECTED TO THE ADJACENT BAR, A PORTION OF EACH BAR EXTENDING BEYONDITS SUPPORT AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE BENEATH THE FLANGE OF FLANGED BARRELTO BE LIFTED, AND AN ARCUATE END MEMBER SECURED ACROSS THE ENDS OF SAIDLEGS OPPOSITE SAID BIGHT ADAPTED TO BEAR AGAINST THE ARCUATE SIDE OF THEBARREL TO BE LIFTED, WHEREBY LIFTING PRESSURE EXERTED ON SAID BIGHT ISADAPTED TO RAISE THE BARREL FROM A HORIZONTAL POSITION TO A VERTICALPOSITION.